JOHNNY NELSON thought he was s***… and the rest of the world thought he was a coward.
The Sheffield cruiserweight only started his professional boxing career because his last amateur prize was so tragic and his lack of commitment was rewarded with three consecutive paid defeats.
Johnny Nelson proved to millions, and himself, that he was worthy of being called a world champ
Rebuilding work under iconic boxing mentor Brendan Ingle landed him two world title shots, against Carlos de Leon in 1990 and James Warring in 1992, but he failed them both and was slaughtered, labelled a bottle job by the fickleist of fight fans.
But 21 years ago today he made the third time a charm when he stopped Carl Thompson in the fifth round at the Storm arena in Derby and burst into floods of tears.
The turnaround was incredible and sparked a run of 13 defences for one of Britain’s most unlikely ever champions.
“I only had 15 amateur fights and I only won three of those,” Nelson told SunSport after being reminded of his anniversary.
“The last fight I won the prize wasn’t even a cup or a medal, I got a blanket and a torch. The only reason I turned professional to try to improve on that.
“I never thought I was any good, I only boxed to make friends in the gym, but once I learned you could get paid for it I just thought I would earn a bit of money.
“I mistook nerves for fear and when people said I had no bottle I believed them. Even when I won the Central Area title and the British title, I still thought I was s***, I just thought my opponents were really rubbish, I had no confidence.”
The referee waved off the fight in the fifth round and Nelsomn had achieved his dream
Growing up, Nelson was a mummy’s boy, Ingle would gently tease him about his close maternal ties and urge him to move out.
But he became his own man traipsing around Europe doing hard sparring rounds with the best in the division.
And one miserable trip across The Channel and a chance meeting with a white poodle sparked his dogged ascent to the WBO world title.
“I was sparring with French light-heavyweight champion Fabrice Tiozzo in Lyon and I was beating him up,” he added.
“I was staying in horrible digs and living off a pittance and one day I walked out of the gym and right the22e in front of me was a beautiful white stretch limo a gorgeous girl with a white poodle sat on her lap.
“She looked like a movie star and just then Tiozzo followed me out, brushed past me and jumped in with her and drove off, leaving me for dust. Right there and then I realised I was good enough and I was going to make something of my boxing career.”
Johnny Nelson lost his first three fights as a pro and few predicted how far he would go
To do that, Nelson had to beat Carl Thompson to finally land a major world title but the Mancunian was the sort of formidable opponent Nelson had failed to handle on previous step ups.
The former mixed martial artist had just retired rock-hard Chris Eubank Sr with back-to-back defeats after he had jumped up to the 14st 4lbs division.
And went on to be the only man to beat David Haye at cruiserweight, before he went on to rule in the division and repeat the feat up at heavyweight.
Swigging in the last chance saloon, Nelson had to throw everything at Thompson – who was making his third defence – and fighting dirty for the elusive back-foot fighter suddenly came naturally.
“I knew Tony used a nightclub near Warrington called Mr Smith’s and, without having ever met her, I knew what his girlfriend looked like” he recalled.
“So when I sat down at the press conference I leaned over to John Ingle to tell him all about this girl I had pulled in Smith’s recently and, at just the right volume, I described Carl’s missus to a tee.
“I had to make him hate me, I wanted him to want to kill me and it worked because after that fight it took about eight years for Carl to forgive me for that. It was not a nice thing to do but I had to do it.”
Carl Thompson was absolutely gutted that the referee waved it all off
Inside the ropes, things were just as controversial, after being dropped in the fourth following a dozen jabs and a chopping right hand, Thompson was stopped on his feet in the fifth and left fuming at the decision.
The conspiracy theorists who raged against referee Paul Thompson’s decision to stop the fight, jumped on the fact Nelson had been going along with an Ingle-inspired ruse.
And Nelson sympathises with the vanquished opponent he had outfoxed both sides of the ropes.
He said: “I know Carl inside out and he could have continued. If the fight had to be stopped it should have happened in the fourth when he went down.
“It was Brendan’s idea to promise a fifth-round win and I just ran with it.
“The idea was he would wait for me to over-commit to big shots and then catch me but I could get four rounds up by then and not fall into the trap.
“But it just so happened that is when it happened. I felt for Carl but I knew there was no way he could beat me that night, after everything I had been through I was willing to die in the ring.”
Johnny Nelson was overcome with emotion after hius scintillating win
He very nearly did, too.
“Sat at ringside supporting Carl was a big-time Manchester gangster who I knew as ‘Big Cliff’.
“Before the fight I saw him making gun signs at me with his hands but I was crying so much after the win that I didn’t see him afterwards.
“Instead I got a phone call from a friend a few days later warning me to stay away from the North West for a while but thankfully nothing came of it.”
Twenty-one years ago Johnny Nelson had his big night under the lightsCredit: Action Images – Reuters
Anyone who saw the hysterical Nelson collapse to the floor, ruining his Premier League-inspired celebration, would have thought he had finally reached the pinnacle.
But he admits they were tears of relief and the world title that was wrapped around was an anti-climax.
“My plan was to copy that Eric Cantona celebration, when he just stood dead still, looked around and soaked it all in,” he said.
“But, and I am not a religious man, the weight that was lifted off my shoulders at that second felt like such a spiritual thing that I fell to the floor and had to be dragged up.
“I couldn’t help thinking, as I was going down, ‘what are you doing you w*****? Get up, get up!” But I couldn’t.
“But the feeling didn’t last. Because I was never defined by boxing, because I had never set out with the dream of one day becoming a world champion, it didn’t feel as incredible as people assume.
“I had been through so much but all I wanted to do was make Brendan proud and prove his system worked, he had taken someone s*** and made them a world champion.
“The story behind the win was great, we had been written off so many times, insulted and I was called a coward so we proved those people wrong but the belt didn’t define me.”
Thirteen defences followed, as has a hugely successful punditry position with Sky Sports, so a fair assumption would be Nelson crosses off days on the calendar waiting to celebrate the night that finally changed his life so drastically.
But the start of the conversation is the perfect way to end his anniversary celebration.
“I had completely forgotten about it, how many years ago was the fight?”
Twenty one, we tell him, and ask if he is looking forward to the annual milestone.
“Why?” he asks. “What date was it?”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
